Forgiveness Quotes & Thoughts

The Power of Forgiveness

1. "Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." — Mahatma Gandhi
2. "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." — Mahatma Gandhi
3. "Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave." — Indira Gandhi
4. "The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world." — Marianne Williamson
5. "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." — Lewis B. Smedes
6. "Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." — Paul Boose
7. "There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love." — Bryant H. McGill
8. "Forgiveness is the final form of love." — Reinhold Niebuhr
9. "Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself." — Suzanne Somers
10. "Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom." — Hannah Arendt

The Healing Journey

1. "Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die." — Buddha
2. "Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it." — Mark Twain
3. "Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace." — Jonathan Lockwood Huie
4. "To err is human, to forgive, divine." — Alexander Pope
5. "When you forgive, you in no way change the past, but you sure do change the future." — Bernard Meltzer
6. "The act of forgiveness takes place in our own mind. It really has nothing to do with the other person." — Louise Hay
7. "Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear." — Nelson Mandela
8. "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them." — Bruce Lee
9. "True forgiveness is when you can say, 'Thank you for that experience.'" — Oprah Winfrey
10. "You can’t forgive without loving. And I don’t mean sentimentality. I don’t mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, 'I forgive. I’m finished with it.'" — Maya Angelou

Personal Growth

1. "Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning." — Desmond Tutu
2. "Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude." — Martin Luther King Jr.
3. "Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation." — Roberto Assagioli
4. "Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life." — George MacDonald
5. "We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive." — Martin Luther King Jr.
6. "He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass." — George Herbert
7. "Only the brave know how to forgive; it is the most refined and generous pitch of virtue human nature can arrive at." — Laurence Sterne
8. "Nothing enables us to forgive easier than when we reflect on the wrongs we have done to others." — Philip Stanhope
9. "Forgiveness is an economy of the heart. Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits." — Hannah More
10. "Forgiveness is the oil of relationships." — Josh McDowell

Letting Go

1. "Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness." — Thich Nhat Hanh
2. "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." — Lewis B. Smedes
3. "Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself." — Deborah Reber
4. "The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest." — Unknown
5. "Stop holding on to what hurts and make room for what feels good." — Unknown
6. "Sometimes you just have to let people go. If they’re meant to be in your life, they’ll come back." — Unknown
7. "When the past calls, let it go to voicemail, believe me, it has nothing new to say." — Unknown
8. "One of the simplest ways to stay happy is letting go of the things that make you sad." — Unknown
9. "Holding a grudge doesn’t make you strong; it makes you bitter. Forgiving doesn’t make you weak; it sets you free." — Dave Willis
10. "Let it hurt. Let it heal. Let it go." — Unknown

Forgiveness and Love

1. "Forgiveness is the highest form of love." — Reinhold Niebuhr
2. "When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God’s light shines upon you." — Jon Krakauer
3. "Love is an act of endless forgiveness." — Jean Vanier
4. "There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love." — Bryant H. McGill
5. "The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness." — Honoré de Balzac
6. "Forgive yourself for the things you’ve done in the past. Love yourself for the progress you’re making today." — Unknown
7. "Love may forgive all infirmities and love still in spite of them: but Love cannot cease to will their removal." — C.S. Lewis
8. "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." — C.S. Lewis
9. "Forgiveness and letting go are steps on our road back to happiness." — Tina Dayton
10. "A life lived without forgiveness is a prison." — William Arthur Ward

Forgiveness in Action

1. "Forgiveness is a powerful expression of love." — Unknown
2. "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." — Mahatma Gandhi
3. "Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life." — George MacDonald
4. "Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting go of another person’s throat." — William Paul Young
5. "Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting." — William Arthur Ward
6. "Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning." — Desmond Tutu
7. "Without forgiveness, there’s no future." — Desmond Tutu
8. "Forgiveness isn't just a blessing you deliver to another human being. Forgiveness is also a gift you give yourself." — Robin Sharma
9. "My desire is to be a forgiving, non-judgmental person." — Janine Turner
10. "Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart." — Corrie Ten Boom

Forgiveness and Inner Peace

1. "Forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace." — Jonathan Lockwood Huie
2. "The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves." — Eric Hoffer
3. "Forgiveness is the key to inner peace because it is the mental technique by which our thoughts are transformed from fear to love." — Marianne Williamson
4. "Forgive, forget. Bear with the faults of others as you would have them bear with yours." — Phillips Brooks
5. "If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive." — Mother Teresa
6. "Every step you take along the way of forgiveness is a step closer to inner peace." — Unknown
7. "The practice of forgiveness is the way to inner peace." — Gerald Jampolsky
8. "When you forgive, you in no way change the past, but you sure do change the future." — Bernard Meltzer
9. "Forgiveness is not for the weak. It is for the strong who are brave enough to enter a clearly responsible inner space of self-awareness, to acknowledge our negative emotions and actions, forgive the self, and then find the courage to forgive and heal others." — Caroline Myss
10. "Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on." — Les Brown

For Giving and Receiving

1. "It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody." — Maya Angelou
2. "Forgiveness is not something we do for other people. We do it for ourselves to get well and move on." — Unknown
3. "Sometimes you have to forgive and forget, forgive them for hurting you, and forget they ever existed." — Unknown
4. "To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness." — Robert Muller
5. "Forgiving is not forgetting. It's letting go of the hurt." — Kathy Collins
6. "The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive." — Marianne Williamson
7. "Forgiveness is the needle that knows how to mend." — Jewel
8. "Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it." — Mark Twain
9. "You’ll never know how strong your heart is until you learn to forgive who broke it." — Unknown
10. "We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." — Joseph Campbell

Forgiveness and the Future

1. "When you forgive, you heal. When you let go, you grow." — Unknown
2. "Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got." — Robert Brault
3. "Forgiveness is the only way to break the cycle of blame—and pain—in a relationship." — Dr. Rick Hanson
4. "The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world." — Marianne Williamson
5. "Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." — Mahatma Gandhi
6. "Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting." — William Arthur Ward
7. "He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love." — Martin Luther King Jr.
8. "Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." — Paul Boose
9. "Forgive. Such a small word, just to decline to take the penny off another's heart. What a world it would be if we felt we had the right to forgive... everyone." — Jill Dawson
10. "Only the brave know how to forgive; it is the most refined and generous pitch of virtue human nature can arrive at." — Laurence Sterne